# Cancer irroratus

Cancer irroratus (common name the Atlantic rock crab or peekytoe crab) is a crab in the genus Cancer. It is found from Iceland to South Carolina at depths up to 2,600 ft (790 m), and reaches 133 mm (5.2 in) across the carapace.

## Description

Cancer irroratus has nine marginal teeth on the front edge of the carapace beside each eye, and reaches a carapace width of 5.25 inches (133 mm). These crabs are similar in color to, and overlap in size with, the Jonah crab, Cancer borealis. The two species can indeed be distinguished by the purplish-brown spots on the carapace of C. irroratus (contrasting with the yellow spots of C. borealis), and by the smooth edges to the teeth on the edge of the carapace (denticulate in C. borealis). Males can range up to 8–127mm, while females can range up to 113mm. When the crabs molt they usually molt in between the months of April and July. The two fount claws of the crab are very important because they are the ones that can grab pray as well as holding it while eating it.This crab species occurs on the eastern coast of North America, from Iceland to South Carolina. Rock crabs live over a large depth range, from well above the low tide line to as deep as 2,600 feet (790 m).

## Reproduction

During the month of June if the male gonads are larger than 101 mm then that means they are well developed and mature. If it is less that 50 mm then that means that they are undeveloped or in an early stage of maturity. Females smaller than 70mm are in early stage of ovarian development. During the reproduction season they tend to go to shallow waters like tilted pools or rocky areas. After females and male mate, the females will lay between 125,000 and 500,000 eggs. After the eggs are laid between the month of June and September, the larval crabs stay in the water until they hatch and then the baby crab start heading to deep water.

## Diet and predator

Atlantic Rock crab diet mostly consist of shellfish like worms, clams, mussels, sea urchins, and even other crabs. But where they get most of the energy from is eating mussels because mussels provide the crabs with all the fatty acids that they need. Atlantic rock crabs are most vulnerable when they are caught in lobster traps and as well lobster eating the tiny rock crabs when they are still in a larva stage because their shell is soft it doesn't get hard until they are an adult. Over the years the as the seafood industry became to the more demanding so the Fishermans started to catch Rock crab but to keep the population steady and not overfishing the crabs there are some regulations for an example fisherman's must have the license, have to have a specific measurement in order to keep the crab (102mm) and forbid people to catch female crab.

## Conservation

The rock crab has recently become a popular culinary item. The name "peekytoe crab" refers to the fact that the legs are "picked" (a Maine colloquialism meaning "curved inward"). Until about 1997, they were considered a nuisance species by the lobster industry because they would eat the bait off of lobster traps. But over time Scientist found out are part of a major ecosystem because they play a role in the food web since they have a much larger diet because they are energy recycling meaning that the process of using energy that would normally be wasted. As well as heaving crabs as an important development to lobster because lobster eat the soft tissues and a little bit of the hard part of the crab because not only it helps with their growth but also post larva development. So far, the scientist doesn't know if the population of the rock crab is increasing or decreasing but we do know that with the efforts that we are doing my keeping the populations and reproduction stable we can determine that the Atlantic rock crab won't go extinct anytime soon.

## Invasion

Even though the Atlantic Rock crab is important to the ecosystem it's also a threat to some parts of the world. For example, Iceland they recently discovered Atlantic rock crabs that is not native to their island, scientist think they got to Iceland by a larva in ballast water in developed and reproduced in the Icelandic water. With the invasion of Atantic rock crab as well of the successful breeding that is happening in Iceland now the crabs have not colonized Iceland.